EunB, RiSe, and Simone Battle

This past week was a dark time for girl group fans. All in one week, we lost three singers: EunB and RiSe (from Ladies' Code), and Simone Battle (from G.R.L.).

Ladies' Code was in a car accident on Wednesday, September 3. EunB died on site, and RiSe passed away at the hospital from her injuries today (Sunday, September 7).

Simone Battle was found dead in her home on Friday, September 5. Her cause of death is still being investigated.

I don't really follow either group that much, but I had obviously known of them and heard their songs before. I even watched G.R.L. perform on TV a few weeks ago so now that Simone is gone... it doesn't seem real. All three deaths happening in just once was truly heartbreaking for me, and today I just cried. Even though I don't know any of these girls personally, I know that they were surrounded by people who loved them, and my heart breaks for those people.

Simone was 25. RiSe was 23. EunB was just 21. But even thought their time on earth was short, I believe they fulfilled their dreams... and that gives me a bit of peace. Everyone dies at some point, but what matters is how you live.

That's why we should never give up living, never put things off until later... because it could happen to anyone at any time.

I only wish there was something more I could say... but I have nothing, so I pray for their families and friends. Even then I don't really know the words to pray... but I pray anyway.

Everyone, please pray.

R.I.P.
Go Eunbi (November 23, 1992 – September 3, 2014)
Simone Sherise Battle (June 17, 1989 – September 5, 2014)
Kwon Rise (August 16, 1991 – September 7, 2014)

Orange Caramel "My Copycat" MV

Orange Caramel has released a music video for "My Copycat", which is my favorite K-pop music video in a long time!

The music is standard Orange Caramel, so if you're not into that I guess you won't be crazy about this either. But what really makes the video stand out for me is that its interactive. I LOVE interactive videos!

In this one, the main goal is to spot the difference in the split screen scenes. There's a number in the corner that tells you how many changes there are. You can pause to spot them all, or if your like me you make a game out of it by seeing how many you can spot before the scene changes.

There's also a "Where's Waldo?" type challenge where you have to spot the members of Orange Caramel.

It's silly, but I haven't had this much fun with a music video since Girl's Day's "Hug Me Once". And "My Copycat" is even better!

There's really not a lot to say about this video because it really speaks for itself. It's simple, but it's so much fun!

You can find this song on Orange Caramel's fourth single album, which also comes with a new song called "Gangnam Street" (a really great dance song).

Check out the dance version of "My Copycat", too!

Girl's Day - "Darling" music video

Girl's Day has released a new video for their song "Darling".

It seems like lately K-pop music videos have been giving me the same mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm a not a fan of the "sexy concept" at all, and the number of shots of their butts in this music video is ridiculous. On the other hand, this song is super catchy, the video is well-made, and the girls are actually adorable when the camera focuses on something besides their rear ends.

Obviously Girl's Day has been trying to push this "sexy concept" a lot lately, since songs like "Expectation" and "Something" have been some of their most popular songs. (Those two were so over the top for me that I never finished watching either video.) But it seems now they're remembering that they also had a hit back in the day with "Twinkle Twinkle", which was cute and quirky. This video seems to be a combination of the two styles, which is rarely ever attempted, but in this case I think it actually worked.

The song is so catchy and fun, and probably one of my favorite summer songs this year. I've only listened to it a couple times and it's already stuck in my head. It sounds like something Secret would do, actually. It's bouncy, happy, sweet... it makes me wanna sing and dance along. The replay value of this song is very, very high, and I have no doubt I'll listen to it at least once more this summer.

The music video is where my feelings are slightly mixed, but I've already gone over how I feel about the "sexy concept" so I'll just skip that part, because I don't think I'll say anything that everyone else hasn't already said.

The video is very bright, with lots of yellow and orange, but your eyes will adjust after a few seconds (probably). There's lots of summer fun in this video, from chilling at the pool to playing darts or washing a car. None of it really has anything to do with the song, but it is amusing to watch. As I said before, the girls are absolutely adorable in this video. It makes me miss their "Twinkle Twinkle" days just a little bit.

I also enjoyed the combination of dance scenes; there are four different combinations of locations and outfits. It really gave the video a lot of variety, and I wish more groups would use this many different sets more.

Overall, I'd say my thoughts on this are mostly positive. If Girl's Day can continue to release catchy songs like this, I may forgive them for changing their image so abruptly. The truth is that the members really are talented, and I'd hate to stop listening to them simply because they look different now.

If you enjoyed this song, you can buy it on Girl's Day's new EP Everyday 4, which released yesterday! Let me know your thoughts on this song and video, too.

KARA adds new member: Youngji

 

After Nicole and Jiyoung left KARA earlier this year, DSP launched the Kara Project. Seven trainees would compete, and two would be chosen by votes to become new members of KARA. Well, that two ended up becoming one, and the winner was declared to be Heo Younji (19), bringing KARA to a four-member line-up, similar to the one they had when they debuted.

Honestly, I didn't actually follow this audition. I saw it when it began, but I just wasn't interested enough to keep up with it. So I can't say if maybe another member should have been chosen instead. (Though I loved Puretty so any of the three former members who auditioned would've been great for me.) After looking up videos of Youngji (do you know how many times I've almost called her Jiyoung by accident?), I can say that she's a good singer, and a good dancer, and she has a face that would fit well with the group.

 

The thing about Youngji is, to me, she doesn't seem like she will ever stand out. The question is whether or not that's a good thing. On the one hand, this is a big change for KARA, who has had the same line-up for almost six years. If you add someone who has a totally different image, she would stick out too much and make it feel like it's not the same group that we've known all this time, possibly upsetting long-time KARA fans.

On the other hand, if she blends too much with the rest of the group, then she won't be adding anything, leaving all of us wondering why they even bothered to add a new member.

This is all speculation on my part; as I said, I didn't keep up with the audition, so I don't know as much about this girl as others do. As always, I will have to wait until she actually debuts with the group to make my final judgment.

For now, I will just say congrats, Youngji. I hope you have success and that the Kamilia will truly accept you as part of the group.

KARA will debut their new line-up in August in both Korea and Japan.

T-ara with Davichi (feat. Skull) - Bikini

Gosh darn it, I didn't write anything all July. I've been writing several drafts (got halfway through an entire album review) but I haven't gotten to finish anything.

I really need to stay on top of this so I can stop starting every post with an apology.

SO ANYWAY!  For a while, since January or February, I had pretty much lost all interest in Kpop. I'm starting to get back into it, but it's coming veeerrryyyy slowwwlly. Because, let's face it, the quality of Kpop just isn't what it was in, say, 2011. (That's how I see it anyway.

So to help myself get back into it more quickly, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a little Kpop review!

...and of course I pick T-ara, one of my least favorite girl groups.

Smart move, Shayna.

Okay, I'll try to be serious for just a few seconds here. The latest digital single by T-ara with Davichi (or Davichi with T-ara if you go by the cover, oddly) is titled "Bikini", and it features Skull. Who is Skull, you ask? I have no idea, I was hoping you would know.

The song is very sweet, relaxing, and summery. While T-ara's vocals are mostly their usual sweet, kinda cutesy voices, Davichi pretty much owns the song with their powerful and simply gorgeous, mature voices. And of course, there's Skull, who has a very raspy voice. It's nice in the fact that it reminds of an island beach, but annoying because it makes my throat hurt just listening to it.

While the song is really nothing spectacular, it's nice. It's also pretty interesting because it sounds nothing like T-ara's previous work. I'm pretty good at naming Kpop bands just by listening, but if someone played this for me I would never have guessed it was T-ara. I can't exactly say why, but something about it is different.

The video is nice as well; I mean, you can't really go wrong with a beach video. It makes me want to go back to the beach again before summer is over. The stars of the video are apparently not T-ara (I honestly didn't even notice, as I know little about the group besides their popular songs), but to me that doesn't matter. Who says only T-ara can have fun? ;)

So, yeah. Honestly this was just a post to get me back into the habit of writing more, but this single didn't really impress me that much. It's nice, but not really worth listening to more than two or three times. And for a T-ara / Davichi collab, it's definitely no "We Were in Love" (awesome song if you haven't heard it).

But it's just a digital single so I can't say I expected too much. *shrugs*

RAINBOW IS BACK!

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS, RAINBOW IS BACK!!!

THEY'RE BAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!

I have so many things I want to say about their new music video that the thoughts are all getting jumbled inside my brain and I can't do anything but scream!

RAINBOW IS BAAAAAAAAAAACK!

It's been almost two years since they've been in Korea, people! TWO FREAKING YEARS! I'm not even a huge fan of this group but this comeback makes me so happy!



"Tell Me Tell Me" is probably Rainbow's most colorful video since "Gossip Girl". It's fun; it's girly; it's something that Rainbow hasn't released in a while, but it's adorable and very catchy.

Of course the song is not perfect; the instrumental almost sounds like it was made in Garage Band, and the melody doesn't show off their vocals as well as their past singles. But something about this song makes you want to dance around the room and sing along. Also, Jisook's voice at about 2:23 is just amazing to me. She has a unique quality, and I think just from that one line she may become my favorite Rainbow member.

The video is nice as well; the backgrounds are really cute and the girls look beautiful, especially since a lot of them have new hair styles! I think my favorite outfit is the blue jeans with the white tops, because I love the fabric on the shirts! And they have cute rainbow necklaces and shoes with their member colors. The sneakers with the tied jackets reminded me a little too much of a certain recent video by another girl group... not saying any names, but you know who I'm talking about. Still, they do it in a more cute and innocent way, not straying from their concept.

Overall I'm very happy with Rainbow's comeback, and I'm so glad it wasn't as forgettable as "Sweet Dream". Sure, it's not the most unique, and I know a lot of people have something against anything cute, but I love it. I could not be any happier right now!

Now I just have to wait for 2PM's comeback...

(P.S., I might review Rainbow's album... Stay tuned!)

Girls' Generation Goes Back in Time...5 Years

Girls' Generation, my second Kpop group, will always hold a special place in my heart because of their song "Gee". That song just wouldn't stop showing up in my recommended videos on YouTube, and that's why I'm a Kpop fan today.

Well, get ready for a bit of nostalgia, as they take us back in time a full five years in their newest video, "Dancing Queen".

Honestly, I thought when they pulled out that time machine they would go back to like the 80's. Not that you could blame me, since I actually was pretty convinced it would be a cover of the ABBA song (technically from the 70's). Well, I was partially right, because it was a cover. A cover of... Duffy's "Mercy"? ...what?

This is the last song I would ever imagine Girls' Generation covering. The vocals are great, but it's just not the same.

According to some comments, this was actually filmed back in 2008, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. If it wasn't, then whoever did their hair/makeup is pretty talented.

The whole video is reminiscent of "Gee", especially with the dance scenes with the jeans, white t-shirts, and white background. The café scenes remind me more of the Japanese version.

At the end of the video, they transport back to the future/present (2013) and reveal their outfits for their upcoming single "I Got a Boy". Personally, I think these outfits are quite ugly and overly complicated. What happened to Girls' Generation, anyway? They're definitely not the same girls as the ones who sang "Into the New World". It's not that I hate the new GG, I just liked them best before last year.

Back to "Dancing Queen", there's not much to say about this song since it's a cover, and the video looks exactly like something we would've seen in 2008. But hey, I'm not complaining. At least we got a Korean song in 2012!

"Orion" (KARA) Review

It's been a while since I have done a review, so let's do a review for a new music video! Due to some issues I've been having with YouTube, you'll have to excuse the fact that there are no screen shots.

Today KARA released their PV for the B-side of their latest single "Electric Boy" (another song I was going to review but never got around to it). Of course when I saw a screenshot for the PV, I assumed "Oh, this will just be another incredibly boring sad song music video." And in a way, it does have a few of the ingredients for a mundane, forgettable video: sitting around, looking sad (yet pretty at the same time), slow motion "acting" scenes; and yet, I found this video totally captivating.

The song is a bit typical, but I'm sure after a few listens it will grow on me. In fact, it was actually a bit hard to pay attention to the song because I was distracted by the sheer beauty of the video:

In the first half of the video, KARA keeps it basic with beige and white filling the room. This simple beauty actually interests me, as I wonder how it will be used in the video. I think simplicity often allows you to pay attention to the intention behind the song and video, and really become absorbed in the story.

If I understand the lyrics correctly, the girl in the song is missing someone, wanting to tell him she loves him. As Hara peeks through the telescope, she sees the constellation Orion, hoping that he'll see it, too. (Okay, well she probably can't actually see anything since there's light coming through the window, but you get the point.)

I love their outfits in these scenes, with the beige and pink looking lovely and calming together. But the real beauty is in the next scene, in a white and silver sort of winter wonderland where they wear gorgeous long gowns: some sparkly, some frilly, all totally regal. The best of all is Gyuri's dark blue dress. I mean, it's just absolutely perfect, from head to toe.

Somehow, KARA always manages to look perfect in all of their videos. Hair, make-up, outfits; everything is flawless, and I think this visual appeal is really what captivates me in videos like this. Very simple, yet elegant at the same time.

The only part of the video I didn't care for is the crying at the end of the video. I don't care how heart-wrenching the song is, I just can't stand to see people cry in videos. (There are a few exceptions, but not many, I think.)

Of course I didn't expect this to be a monumental video, as it's just for a B-side, but I think that they did a good job with it; I don't feel like it was time wasted for a pointless PV, you know?

I hope you enjoyed my review! I'll continue to work to improve my writing skills, and I hope you continue reading!

IU - "Good Day" Japanese Version

Well, I was certainly surprised today when I went to TokyoHive and saw that IU had released a Japanese single. I had no idea she was even going to debut in Japan.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of how every company in Korea has started sending their artists to other countries (mostly Japan, a couple of times the U.S., and sometimes China). It was cool the first time I figured out that Girls' Generation had Japanese songs (because at that time I couldn't sing in Korean at all), and then I saw other artists doing it, and then more... before I know it like every Kpop artist has Japanese songs!

Then let's not forget how the Wonder Girls have been in the U.S. for almost 3 years. Of course, I'm glad they did, because that's how I heard of them and Kpop in general. But then I heard that 2NE1 was going to debut here, too... and then Girls' Generation released "The Boys". I'm a GG fan, and I was super excited, but at the same time it's like "Hello, two bands have already done this ahead of you!" The only reason I let it slide is because Jessica and Tiffany are American.

But I digress…

When I saw that IU was releasing a Japanese song, I was slightly upset. She has such a unique voice that I believe Korea needs her now to show more diversity than what they're getting right now. However, I was still interested to hear the Japanese version of "Good Day", because it's a brilliant song and I like the Japanese language better than Korean. :P



I don't speak Japanese yet, but as far as I can tell, her pronunciation is pretty good compared to some other Kpop artists' *cough*4minute*cough*. And that "aita, seino" near the end was just so freaking kawaii!

The one thing I really didn't like was that they tried to recreate the Korean music video. First of all, the original music video made no sense to me in the first place. The Japanese remake still didn't make any sense, and it looked a little cheap compared to the original. However, there will still elements from the video that I really enjoyed -- mostly the random appearances of the band. XD

IU, I really liked your Japanese version of this song, but please don't stay in Japan too long! KOREA NEEDS YOU!!!

New Music I'm Listening To - Week 1

I love to find new music. I have this unsatisfiable craving for music every day. I always need more! So I decided to make a weekly post about new songs I've been listening to! Most of these are songs that catch my eye (or ear) from the first time I play them. In other words, they're songs that I'm likely to listen to a lot more in the future! I'm hoping to do this every Friday. If you have a song that you would like me to check out, then just comment! It has to have been released within a week or two earlier. Remember, it's NEW music.

Okay, so first off, is an artist that I've just now discovered, and I think she's a great singer! She's Japanese and her name is Nishino Kana. This song is called "SAKURA, I love you?" (yes, there's supposed to be a question mark there) She wrote the lyrics to it herself, so I think that's cool! I enjoy singers who can write their own songs because it means that they will definitely be able to sing it with the right emotion. Anyway, check this out!

≪ㄕ√≫ Пis৸iПΦ κǞПǞ - S.A.K.U.R.A.,I.l.o.v.e... by wonderful-life1989

Next is a Korean band called Big Bang. If you listen to Kpop, there's no doubt that you've heard of these guys. If you haven't then you must live under a rock. Honestly, I used to not listen to their music. I knew who they were, but I didn't like them. I'd always had this thing against YG artists for some reason (except Gummy, I've always liked her). But then a friend showed me this episode of a show called Healing Camp and Big Bang was featured on that show and I really started to see their personalities and I decided to give them another chance. Their new song "Blue" is very laid back, but it's also very pretty. You have to listen to it a few times before it really starts to grow on you, but eventually I'm sure I'll love it! Oh, and did I mention that this video got 7,000,000+ views in just 4 days? A KPOP video got that many views! I mean, holy chiz!


Alright, now on to Wonder Girls' labelmates, miss A! Gosh, I can't believe these girls debuted in 2010! They're so freaking good! They've never put out a bad release EVER! Their new song is "Touch" and is very different than what most idol groups are singing right now. The melody is hauntingly beautiful! There were certain parts in the song that I thought didn't flow well, but then I watched them live and it sounded fine, so my guess is that the MV is just skipping slightly. I don't know if your ears can pick those spots up or not, but mine can! :D  YOU TOUCH MY HEART BABY!!!!! (touch touch)